Made-in-Quebec electric motorcycle goes from 0 to 100 km/h in less than five seconds

A made-in-Quebec electric motorcycle is the talk of this year's Montreal Motorcycle Show. 2:14

Heavy metal thunder could be a thing of the past if a revolutionary electric motorcycle catches on, as its Quebec designers hope it will.

Revealed this weekend at the Montreal Motorcycle Show at the Palais Des ​Congrès, the Longueuil-built SORA can go from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds and has a top speed of nearly 200 km/h — all with hardly a sound.

That silence is leaving some old-school motorcycle enthusiasts unconvinced.

“There's no sounds... I like the sounds. A lot of guys… like the sounds the feeling and hearing the motor,” said ​Stéphane Bessette.

The silent SORA, however, is making a lot of noise among attendees, says show manager Bianca Kennedy.

“It has certainly added a lot of attention to the show, lots of interest, a lot of buzz,” she said. "Innovation always creates interest."

Priced around $48,000, the SORA features touchscreen interfaces and an adjustable electric seat that converts the bike from low-rider to cafe racer. The bike can travel up to 200 kilometres on a fully-charged battery.

“The SORA is for people looking for exclusivity. It's for one percent of the population — people who can afford it, because we are not trying to hit the mass market,” said Jean-Pierre Legris of Lito Green Motion, the Longueuil-based company behind the Sora.

At least one motorcycle show attendee, however, sees the SORA as the luxurious thin-edge of a mass movement toward electric motorcycles in the not-so-distant future.